Thomas J. Whitmore
| residence = | education = | affiliation = | profession = President of the United States | father = | mother = | siblings = | marital = Widowed | spouse = Wife: Marilyn Whitmore (d. 1996) | children = with Marilyn Whitmore: Patricia Whitmore | sigothers = | others = | actor = Bill Pullman | firstseen = Independence Day | lastseen = Independence Day: Resurgence | appearances = 2 films | image2 = | caption2 = Thomas J. Whitmore (1996) }} Thomas J. Whitmore (born 1953) is an American politician who served in the Gulf War before going into politics. He served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Biography Thomas Whitmore fought in the Gulf War as a fighter pilot and later took an interest in politics. He was eventually elected as President in 1992, beginning his first term in January 1993, because of his war experience, as well as his hopeful youth. However, he was openly attacked by the media for his policies and it is implied he was quickly losing supporters. Amidst the controversy, while he was talking with his press advisor Constance Spano that Whitmore receives a phone call informing him about the alien visitors. As he tries to lead his nation through this event he shoulders the responsibility of the decision not to issue an evacuation order in the original three cities that were attacked (Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York City) and as well his decision to try and nuke a City Destroyer located in Houston. The nuclear attempt failed to bring down the ship. He later learns of the existence of Area 51 and has Air Force One land at the base so he can see it for himself and possibly gain information on how to defeat the invaders. He meets Dr. Brackish Okun and is introduced to the downed spaceship as well as the three aliens who died in the crash. It is at Area 51 that he challenges David Levinson to come up with a way to defeat the invading force. After David completes his objective and devises a way to bring down the ships' shields, President Whitmore decided to join the pilots during this mission but before he does he delivers his famous motivational speech. Once the shields are successfully brought down, Whitmore leads in the defense of Area 51 from a City Destroyer and teams up with Russell Casse to provide him cover fire while Casse prepares to fire the last remaining missile at the Alien ship's main weapon. After Casse's missile failed to fire, he sacrificed himself by flying into the ship's weapon and setting off a chain reaction that brought it down. Once the ships were brought down, Whitmore waited on a response from David and Captain Steven Hiller from the Mothership, but the radio operators have not heard from them since the shields went down. Almost immediately they receive a ping on radar and head out to check it out where they are greeted with Captain Hiller and David Levension in the desert. Whitmore was reelected for a second term as president following his leadership in the War of 1996, and he remained a popular figure in both his country and the whole war long after his term ended in 2001. In 2016, as the world prepared to celebrate the war's 20th anniversary, President Elizabeth Lanford began the celebrations by unveiling a commissioned portrait of Whitmore to honor his 'valor and leadership to unite the world and lead humanity from its darkest day to a brighter future.' Family *Marilyn Whitmore - Whitmore is married to Marilyn Whitmore, who was in LA. He asks her to come home early but she decides to until a meeting is over and she will travel to Nellis Air Force base where she will meet the President there. Unfortunately she never makes it to Nellis and Whitmore is left to think his wife is dead. However, Marilyn was founded alive by Jasmine Hiller, but was gravely wounded. When Captain Hiller learns that El Torro has been completely destroyed he hijacks a helicopter to find his girlfriend, where he also finds many other survivors including the First Lady. Marilyn was hospitalized and Whitmore was informed that while his wife is alive she has internal bleeding that has been going on for too long and there is no way to save her. He has his daughter leave the room so as not to alarm her and tells the First Lady that "The Doctors say everything is going to be alright" even though they both know this is not the truth. She playfully calls him a liar as they say their final Goodbyes. The President leave the room, sit with his daughter, where she asks if "mommy is sleeping now." He responds with "Yes, mommy is sleeping now" and her reaction tells she knows exactly what this means. *Patricia Whitmore - Patricia Whitmore (AKA munchkin) is with her father President Whitmore throughout the entire movie. She is there for the death of her mother and is one of the many survivors who are gathered underground at Area 51 during the final battle scene. Gallery ScreenShotnnn022.jpg ScreenShot042.jpg ScreenShot0kkk90.jpg ScreenShot095.jpg ScreenShot04jj1.jpg ScreenShbhhot075.jpg ScreenShotmm068.jpg ScreenShot013.jpg ScreenSgghot015.jpg Memorable Quotes Behind the Scenes *Thomas Whitmore was originally intended to be a Richard Nixon-like figure. The role was originally written for Kevin Spacey, co-writer Dean Devlin's friend from high school. An executive at Fox refused to cast Spacey, insisting he didn't have the potential to be a big star. The part was re-written and Bill Pullman was then cast in the role. *To prepare for his role, Bill Pullman read The Commanders by Bob Woodward and watched the documentary film The War Room.Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 32. *Bill Pullman used the memory of a decayed tooth which was pulled from his mouth in order to come up with a terrified expression when speaking with the alien invaders. *Bull Pullman's speech was filmed on 6 August 1995 in front of an old airplane hangar in Wendover Airport. The hangar once housed the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima exactly 50 years earlier on 6 August 1945. * The novelization of Independence Day establishes Whitmore as a young senator from Chicago prior to becoming President. References Category:American military personnel Category:Americans Category:Characters Category:Independence Day Category:Independence Day: Resurgence Category:Males Category:Presidents of the United States